by TomHill » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:46 am
From owner/winemaker Rob Chrisman:
Here is a brief rundown on our 2004 vintage wines, which are the only ones currently
bottled. We are quite unusual in that all of our wines are proprietary blends of 3-6 varieties,
many of which no one else is working with.
Our white wines are as follows:
* SELVATICO.* An all-Italian cultivar blend, featuring the northeast indigenous variety Tocai Friulano
( a distant cousin of Sauvignon Blanc), together with our exclusive varietals Peverella ( originallly from
the Alto Adige in sub-alpine north-central Italy), and Forastera, an island vine, grown only on Ischia
off the coast near Naples. This is a totally non-traditional blend, very dry with strong mineral overtones
in the finish. Tocai is probably around 50% of this blend.
* CRISTALLO.* Produced largely from the Rkatsiteli grape (85%), with the balance coming
from equal part of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Melon de Bourgogne. Rkatsiteli is a very widely
planted but high quality grape in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and the Ukraine. Until
recently there were over 650,000 acres of Rkatsiteli world-wide; the winery of Dr. Konstantin
Frank, the vinifera pioneer of Finger Lakes fame is one of the only other U.S. producers of
Rkatsiteli. A very unique varietal character akin to a cross between Riesling and Gewurztraminer.
A dry wine to most peoples taste, it has about 0.4% RS.
* DUE FIORI. * A semi-dry ( 1 % RS) wine from Semillon, Chenin Blanc, Flora and
Orange Muscat. 'Due Fiori' means 'two flowers' in Italian; our two flowers are ,of course,
the UC hybrid *Flora* ( Semillon X Gewurz ) and the Moscato *Fior* d'Arancio ( aka Orange
Muscat). This wine compares favorably with Caymus /Conundrum/ and Brassfield /Serenity/, and
was awarded Best of Class, Sierra Foothills appellation for White Varietal Blends at the 2006
CA State Fair judging.
Each of the above wines has won Silver medals in one or more major competitions,
including SF Chronicle, Pacific Rim, San Diego Intl, etc.
Our recently bottled red wines are four in number, including:
*AMATORE* - a Beaujolais-style wine blended from the true Gamay Noir
used in Beaujolais together with Corvina and Rondinella, principal ingredients
in the closest thing the Italians have to Beaujolais----Valpolicella. Medium body
with intriguing fruit.
*PREMIATO* - based on Barbera and Dolcetto, this could be a traditional
Piedmontese blend.
*SANGINETO* - predominantly Sangiovese, with our UC hybrid Carmine ( Carignan
X Cabernet X Merlot), this compares favorably with the best California varietal
Sangioveses. More delicate than overpowering.
*AMPIO*- after the Italian word for ‘ample’, this is our biggest red—dark in color,
full in body, rich in character. Combination of the above-mentioned Carmine and
the native Italian Refosco grape.
